Looking for a weekend break with a difference? Try Istanbul, says Suzanne Harrington. It’s a treasure trove of palaces, mosques, museums and markets.

Donal O’Keeffe visits the major Turkish city that straddles Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus Strait and is fascinated by its magical blend of museums, markets, history and restaurants.

What did the Romans ever do for Ireland? Not a lot, it seems.

The people of Crimea expressed their own free will and self-determination when they voted in 2014 to rejoin Russia, writes Yuriy Filatov.

Sean O’Riordan Private William Patrick Ryan was an unusually courageous man. Having fought and survived several bloody battles in the First World War, he then volunteered in its aftermath to exhume the dead for Christian burial, even though he could have been blown to pieces by unexploded shells.

Here's your morning bulletin.

Dom O’Rourke, President of the Irish Boxing Association, has hailed the contribution of Ireland’s clubs and coaches to what has been a remarkable haul of medals in international competition in 2018.

Latest: A passenger plane which was left dangling off a cliff after skidding from a Turkish runway experienced a surge of speed in one of its engines, according to reports.

On November 1, 1995, Richard Wallace touched down at Thomond Park to score Munster's first points in European Cup competition. This Saturday at the much-changed stadium, barring a complete disaster from Johann van Graan's new charges, someone from the province will pop up and grab the 4,000th. We recall some of the landmarks in between.

Eleven people have been killed and 21 others hurt in a fire at a luxury hotel in the Georgian Black Sea resort city of Batumi, officials said.

Vladimir Putin has met with Syrian president Bashar Assad in Sochi.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has been given another puppy as a gift.

A bus carrying construction workers has driven off a pier in southern Russia, killing at least 17 people, officials said.

THE city of Vienna lies at the heart of this difficult but rewarding novel which was longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize.

During a tense appearance with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Putin said accusations of meddling in last year's US presidential election were "simply rumours".

A Russian navy reconnaissance ship has sunk off Istanbul after colliding with a freighter in the Black Sea.

Sinn Féin has said there is an urgent need for a referendum on Irish unity as the British government has "refused to listen" to the majority of people in Northern Ireland over Brexit.

Search teams have recovered another flight recorder from a military plane which crashed in the Black Sea, killing all 92 people on board, Russia's Defence Ministry said.

Search teams have recovered a flight recorder from the Russian military plane that crashed into the Black Sea over the weekend, the defence ministry said.

Divers have recovered fragments of the Russian passenger jet that crashed into the Black Sea, killing all 92 people on board.

A search for bodies is taking place after a Russian military plane carrying 92 people crashed in the Black Sea.

Pilot error or a technical fault is thought to be the cause of Sunday's Black Sea plane crash that killed 92 people, Russia's transport minister has said as the nation held a day of mourning for the victims.

THROUGH the late summer and autumn a cock pheasant has been feeding in the field outside my study. He’s a big bird with a long tail and fairly elderly, writes Dick Warner.

You might have spotted the USS Porter on your travels around Cobh this weekend.

More than a million Turks gathered in Istanbul yesterday for a rally called by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to denounce a failed coup — a show of strength staged in the face of Western criticism of widespread purges and detentions.

Light-heavyweight Joe Ward found out about boxing injustice the hard way when he missed out on the London games but his focus now in only on Rio.

Geopolitical risks have intensified over the past month or so with Brexit, the terrorist attack in Nice, the shooting of police officers in a number of cities in the United States, the tragic shootings in Munich, and the failed military coup in Turkey.

Fresh from its nomination at the Oscars, ‘Mustang’ opens the Cork French Film festival, writes Helen Barlow

A pregnant woman is among the seven people identified as being infected with the zika virus in Spain after visiting affected countries.

Check out our tips on what to catch on TV tonight.

The public are being assured they will get to play their part in welcoming refugees as the Government prepares to make formal commitments to the EU on the country’s intake today.

There is no natural border between Europe and Asia. Divisions between them are in our heads, writes Victoria White

The Kremlin has released pictures of Russian president Vladimir Putin working out at the gym with prime minister Dmitrty Medvedev – images apparently aimed at shoring up Putin’s rugged, masculine image as his popularity dips.

We have managed to overlook this huge centenary of Irish sacrifice on the world stage, writes Victoria White